Nicolet Bankshares, Inc. and County Bancorp, Inc. today jointly announced the execution of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Nicolet will acquire County and its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Investors Community Bank.
Based on the financial results as of March 31, the combined company will have pro forma total assets of $7.5 billion, deposits of $6.3 billion and loans of $4.9 billion, inclusive of Nicolet’s prior acquisition announcement of Mackinac Financial Corp. on April 12.
“Our collective founder-entrepreneurial mindset makes for a distinctive culture that resonates with our employees and customers. One of the goals of every acquisition is to find better ways to serve communities. This partnership is an intentional, strategic move to become the premier agriculture lender throughout Wisconsin,” said Mike Daniels, president and CEO of Nicolet.
“Nicolet is a like-minded partner who shares our focus on people, community and serving the customer. With the added scale and capital of Nicolet, this partnership will rapidly accelerate our ability to serve existing customers and build new relationships. I am very optimistic about where we can go as a combined company. We remain committed to the markets and industries we serve, especially the dairy sector, and above all, keeping banking local,” said Tim Schneider, president of County.
The boards of directors of both companies unanimously approved the transaction. It is subject to both County and Nicolet shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Nicolet will acquire County with Nicolet being the surviving corporation. In the merger, County shareholders have the right to receive for each share of County common stock, at the election of each holder and subject to proration, either cash of $37.18 per share of County common stock or 0.48 shares of Nicolet common stock.
County shareholder elections will be prorated to ensure the total consideration will consist of approximately 20 percent cash and approximately 80 percent Nicolet common stock. Based on Nicolet’s closing price of $71.75 as of June 21, the merger consideration is valued at approximately $219 million.
Nicolet will appoint a member of County’s current board of directors to the boards of directors of Nicolet and Nicolet National Bank upon the completion of the transaction. Post-merger, Investors’ Schneider will join the senior management team at Nicolet as senior vice president, agriculture lending manager.
Upon consummation of the transaction, Investors’ existing branch at 960 Hansen Road, Green Bay, is expected to close and consolidate with continued service out of the legacy Nicolet office at 2363 Holmgren Way, Green Bay. All other Investors’ branches are anticipated to become Nicolet branches.
